


A Worthy Adversary

by bakecity



Category: Invader Zim
Genre: M/M, but zim tries to offer comfort, deep talks while looking at the sky, dib is sad, u know - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-10
Updated: 2019-10-10
Packaged: 2020-12-07 19:40:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 840
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20981297
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bakecity/pseuds/bakecity
Summary: Dib receives some comfort from an unexpected source.





	A Worthy Adversary

**Author's Note:**

> to quote blink-182, "nobody likes you when you're 23"

Dib frowned, staring up at his glow in the dark star adorned ceiling. He'd just checked the time; 3:48am.  
Christ. Where had his night gone?  
If he was being honest with himself, he'd wasted his night moping. Everything felt... bad, these days. He couldn't find any joy in the things he usually liked to do, and he'd been down the whole list in the past couple of weeks.  
He'd tried reading, combing through forums, cryptid hunting (that had only left him with a couple of skinned knees and zero results); it felt like he'd exhausted the entire list of things that made him feel anything at all. 

He sighed, sitting himself upright, before sliding out of bed. If he was gonna be awake, he may as well be doing something mildly productive with his time.  
He stretched his stiff limbs, before stuffing his feet into some flip-flops and heading out of his room, down the stairs, and out the door. Sure, he was still in his pajamas, but he rationalized this to himself by saying 'who fucking cares, it's 4am'. 

He walked aimlessly down he sidewalk, watching his shadow from the streetlights bob along next to him. The sky was an inky, dark blue, but he knew that'd only last for a couple more hours. 

He found himself at the park, and he sighed as he sank onto a bench.  
He leaned his head back, taking in the deep, star-filled sky above him. This was the first thing that had brought him any kind of sense of ease this week.  
He sighed, letting his eyes fall shut. 

The sound of the leaves rustling in the night breeze was nice. The way the insects and animals lightly chirped was nice. The sharp sound of boots tapping down the walk was-

His eyes shot open, and he sat straight up. What the fuck was that? 

He turned his head, blinking at the sight of the small, irate looking Irken marching his way up the sidewalk. 

"Zim? What are you even _doing_ out here?"

Zim, free from his usual 'human' disguise (Dib used the term 'human' very loosely when it came to Zim), narrowed his large, pink eyes at the taller human. 

"I could ask you the same, human. No doubt you're already trying to get in the way of my _brilliant_ plans, but you're too late! I've already-"

"I don't really care, Zim." 

It was Zim's turn to look surprised, his head tilting to the side as he regarded the other.

"What?"

Dib sighed, giving a small shrug. 

"I just... I don't care." He turned his eyes back up to the sky, a sigh escaping his lips. 

"Everything feels... pointless. Everything I like feels pointless. Everything I try to do feels pointless." He breathed out a mirthless chuckle. "Even fighting with you, which, in case you've forgotten, has been my life for, like, ten-plus years now," He sighed again. "Even that feels pointless." 

He looked at Zim again, before looking down at the ground, the next sentence coming out barely louder than a whisper. 

"Sometimes just being alive feels pointless." 

The two sat together in silence for a while, and Dib could feel the regret and the embarrassment pooling up inside of him. _Why_ did he just blurt all of that out to him? What was that _really_ going to accomplish? Stupid Dib, _stupid_-

He blinked, jarred from his thoughts as he felt a small hand plant itself on his shoulder. 

He looked at Zim, but Zim was staring up at the sky. 

He turned his attention back up to the inky, star-filled heavens, and he sighed again. He wondered what Zim was thinking; he wondered if the endless expanse brought him comfort, too. 

"Zim knows how you are feeling."

He shrugged. "Life away from the Irken Empire has often felt... empty. Directionless."

Dib felt the small hand squeeze his shoulder. 

"But you... you have been a... worthy adversary. You have helped me find meaning when I did not know there was any." The Irken offered a small, curt nod. 

"So, Dib-thing. Do not go down without a fight." He smirked now. "It makes you seem much more like a worm than you already are."

Dib couldn't help but chuckle, the first actual smile he'd smiled in weeks creeping across his face. 

"Thanks, Zim. I really appreciate that." 

"Eh, don't mention it." The Irken stiffened, drawing his hand back, wiping it against his tunic like he was trying to get Dib's germs off. "Really, don't mention it. Ever." 

Dib chuckled again, rising to his feet. "Fine, fine," he smirked, looking down at his... friend? He wasn't sure. He'd figure that out later. 

"Now, what was it that you were planning? At _four in the morning_?"

Zim's eyes grew large, a scowl worming its way onto his face. 

"I'LL NEVER TELL YOU, _FILTHY WORM BABY_!!"

Dib grinned, taking off in a sprint after Zim, who had jetted off down the sidewalk, following as closely as he could. 

He felt a little better.

**Author's Note:**

> i wrote this about a month ago, while in the middle of a pretty deep slump. i resonate with dib in a lot of ways, and kind of projected that onto him (oops)  
but yeah,, i honestly just wanted something where zim actually made an attempt to make his best fiend, his best frenemy, feel a little better. 
> 
> thanks for reading!


End file.
